CMH Gourmand – Eating in Columbus & Ohio

I am being lazy and reposting an old article.

http://www.columbusunderground.com/articles/icecream.html

Ice Cream Capital of the World
by Jim Ellison

This is my observation: we live in the best all around place to get ice cream anywhere on this planet. I am talking quality, variety, proximity, and any criteria that makes a difference. I have had fine ice cream in 24 states, DC, Puerto Rico and 14 countries. Bo Knows sports; I know ice cream, so read on.

Columbus is located dead center in one of the top five ice cream producing states. Whenever top ten lists of the best ice cream places in the USA are compiled either Handels or Graeters make the list and most often both appear. Columbus is the only city that has both of these two ice cream superstars.

Graeters is the oldest continuous maker of ice cream in the country, making small batches using a labor-intensive French Pot process since 1870. Their ice cream was super premium before the term existed – low in air, high in flavor, large chunks of chocolate, and so on. Graeters was born in Cincinnati but the cry for it in Columbus was too great so stores opened here in 1989. Since then locations have popped up all over and continue to do so. Favorite flavors include Black Raspberry Chip, Cookie Dough Chip, and Buckeye Blitz (peanut butter and chocolate mixed together).

There are a dozen of Graeters in town, check their site for locations: http://www.graeters.com.

Handels started out in a former garage in Youngstown Ohio. People have driven long distances for scoops of Chocolate Pecan and Cherry Vanilla. No need to hit I-71 anymore, Handels has been here for a couple years with more locations coming.

More information at: http://www.handelsicecream.com.

For most people, these two spots would be ample but there are so many more to choose from. The best way to appreciate ice cream is with a lot of taste testing.

Denise’s Ice Cream is a recent immigrant from Boston. When the owner’s wife moved to Columbus so did the scoop shop. Denise’s was a local favorite in Beantown, with several awards and rave reviews in a highly competitive market. Cool flavors include Guinness, Bailey’s, Green Tea, Red Bean, and Mango. There are plenty of “normal” flavors as well.

2899 N. High Street
Columbus
614 267 8800
http://www.denisesicecream.com

Jeni’s Fresh Ice Cream is gourmet for ice cream gourmands. Jeni Britton scoops out creative flavors made with the finest ingredients at her North Market stand. A customer favorite is the Salted Carmel – other flavors come and go based on the season and Ms. Britton’s creativity. If you want to learn more about Jeni’s and ice cream in general take a look at the book Everybody Loves Ice Cream by former Columbus resident Shannon Jackson Arnold.

59 Spruce Street
Columbus
614 228 9960
http://www.jenisicecreams.com

These are my favorites but there are many more that are worth mentioning including Johnson’s in Bexley and Reynoldsburg, Tin Roof Frozen Custard in Grandview, Brusters (several locations), Mardi Gras in Dublin, Rita’s Italian Ice, more than twenty Dairy Queens and more. July is national ice cream month and (July 2004) marks the 100th anniversary of the ice cream cone – so get licking, the average American consumes 23 quarts per year, but who wants to be average.If this has whetted your appetite, get more ice cream information at:

ICE CREAM OHIO

http://home.netcom.com/~ellisonj/icomain.html

If you gain too much weight verifying the accuracy of this article consider taking a long bike ride to Utica and the Velvet Ice Cream Ye Olde Mill. See details below.

http://home.att.net/~pkovacs/icecream.html